


you're the reason why I'm on the up and up

by mysilenceknot



Series: but now I'm your daisy [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Secret Identity, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysilenceknot/pseuds/mysilenceknot
Summary: With their secret identities out, Iris and Kara embark on a new type of relationship.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Iris West
Series: but now I'm your daisy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048225
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	you're the reason why I'm on the up and up

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was three years in the making, but I'm really proud of it. I'm glad that I waited until I was fully happy with how their story played out instead of posting something that I wasn't fully satisfied with.  
> Title comes from [Up and Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtIwd1LX0k) by Relient K.

Iris had to admit that she was surprised when Kara immediately agreed to meeting the team officially barely two weeks into their relationship. She honestly thought it would have taken Kara some time to decide when she was ready to share her secret but here they were, off to take a new step together.

“Hey,” Iris said. She stopped walking down the corridor to the cortex, moving around so she was staring straight at Kara. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

Kara took a deep breath. And another deep breath. This was a terrible idea, why did Iris even ask her to do this, there was time in the future to do this instead, she was a terrible girlfriend --

“I’m sure,” Kara replied. “I have butterflies in my chest and there’s a part of me that’s on the edge of panic but I’m sure.”

“We can do this another day,” Iris started but Kara interrupted her, shaking her head.

“Iris. I’m doing this for myself, not just for you. And it’s time.” Kara gave her girlfriend a slight smile. “And I trust you, so trust me back. No matter what happens, you’re by my side. It’s going to be okay.”

Iris let out an exhale. Kara was right, and it wasn’t as if she was walking them into a death trap. They were doing this as partners. “Okay.” She squeezed Kara’s hand and they continued into the cortex, holding hands.

Wally was the first one to notice them when they walked in. “Hey,” he said before pausing. “Kara?” The rest of the team looked up from the various things they’d been working on to stare at the pair. Iris led Kara in, moving until they both stood in front of the television monitor.

“Did you seriously call a meeting to introduce us all to your girlfriend? A civilian?” Harry asked with a scoff. It took everything within Iris to stay calm. She turned to look at Kara who was staring at her, panic barely visible on her face. But Iris had to trust Kara. This was her moment at the end of the day.

“So, we had an announcement we wanted to share,” she said, pointedly not looking at Harry. “And I figured it’d be better -- wait, where’s dad?”

“Work,” was Wally’s deadpan response.

She frowned a little bit - she’d really wanted to break the news all at once. Oh well. Iris continued. “I figured it’d be better if everyone was together for this instead of it having to be revealed person to person.” Iris turned and caught Barry’s eye. It seemed that it was dawning on him as evidenced by the way his smile grew into a full grin. That smile automatically made her feel comfortable, and looking at Kara, she could tell that her girlfriend had been comforted by the smile as well. She let go of Kara’s hand as Kara stepped forward, inhaling deeply once more.

“Hi guys,” Kara said. “I had stuff I wanted to say but I’ll just show you.” Keeping her eyes on the group standing in front of her she slowly lifted up. Iris watched her girlfriend float and then genuinely fly, moving through the room as the team all shouted excitedly. Within seconds, Kara had come back to her, gently lifting her up so they were floating together near the ceiling. Iris could feel herself flushing as they twirled up, her heart so full of love and excitement and relief. 

“So, any questions?” Kara asked. The pair moved down slowly and when Kara touched down Barry rushed forward to give her a hug. 

“I’m so proud of you,” he said. 

Iris felt the same.

* * *

This was supposed to be easy, Kara mused. She could boil water in seconds. She could transfer hot pots and pans with her bare hands with no problem. And sure, she wasn’t that great at baking, but she could at least function enough to make cupcakes with boxed mix.

Making chocolate ganache? Impossible.

“Okay,” Iris said, grabbing the bowl of melted chocolate. She dipped a finger in it to taste, and while she didn’t look enthusiastic Kara was glad that Iris hadn't shown any sign of disgust.

“Well?”

“Well, it’s a major improvement! You didn’t burn the milk this time!”

Kara groaned. “So what did I do wrong this time?”

“Follow me,” Iris said. She picked up the bowl and moved to the counter across the kitchen. The sink was full of dirty dishes, failed attempts by Kara to actually make something correctly. Trying to make caramel had been a difficult challenge due to how quickly sugar melted and the need for double boiling, so Kara had assumed this would be a walk in the park.

Unfortunately, no.

Kara watched Iris slowly pour the ganache she’d made onto a plate. On another plate, she poured the ganache Kara had made. Kara tried her best to pay attention to the differences of the movements of each pour and the smell each one released. She’d known hers was funny from the moment she uncovered the bowl.

“Here’s the problem,” Iris said, gesturing for Kara to come closer. Kara looked down as Iris began to visually explain what went wrong. “The first couple times you tried this you burnt the milk.”

“Yes. I know.”

“And as I said, this is a huge improvement. But the milk still got a little too hot and curdled in some places.” A spoon of Kara’s ganache was lifted up. Iris pointed to the bumps in the chocolate that were extremely small but weren’t supposed to be there.

“I still can’t believe you can even see that.” Iris laughed. She gave the spoon for Kara to taste but kept from looking smug when Kara tasted what went wrong. “Oh, yeah,” she gagged. “Bad.” This had become an absolutely disappointing venture; Kara leaned against the sink and tried not to let the sadness take over.

“Babe,” Iris said. Kara blinked away the tears she felt prickling her eyes. “Honey, you’re doing great.”

“I’m not. I thought I had more control over my powers but I’m just wasting food and wasting your time.” The entire point of Thursday Night Cooking Lessons was to help Kara fine tune her skills. Putting enough heat into water was easy as the kinetic energy spread through the molecules in the container very quickly. Water couldn’t catch fire or burn or melt - the only thing Kara had to watch for was making sure that whatever held the water didn’t get damaged. During a fight there was very little reason for Kara to control her blasts so she’d never really worked on it. 

But Iris had asked her about it and brought it up in the context of food, so now she was trying and failing and it was very frustrating to manipulate the fats and liquid within milk. There’s a reason the process took so long but she just hadn’t been able to hit the right frequency to make the milk steaming hot without actually boiling. Not to mention the process of letting the chocolate melt in the warm cream, which was its own disaster.

“We can stop at any time,” Iris gently reminded her but Kara crossed her arms and shook her head. She wanted to be able to do this. There were so many things that she’d be able to do to help other people if she could get this down. She looked at the oven timer. In the time that she’d failed eight batches of ganache Iris had completely finished baking a green tea pound cake. God.

“Kara.” Kara turned to look at Iris, feeling even lower at how sad and worried her face was. “I’m serious, I don’t wanna do this if you’re going to feel like shit every time.”

“We’ve only tried this three times. And I want to do this,” she countered. “I just don’t want to fail you each time.” Kara knew she wasn’t failing her girlfriend, the thought was irrational and distorted but it was still there. She also knew that some of this was connected to how much of a failure she’d felt like around Mon-El, how she was ready to be chastised any time she fucked up, how she didn’t deserve to be loved as fully as Iris loved her if she couldn’t do something as simple as heat some damn cream with her eyes.

“You’re not failing me.” Iris sighed and looked around the kitchen. “We’re going to have to be done for the night.” Before Kara could protest, Iris grabbed her by the shoulders. “We can talk about this later, but you’re way too upset for this to work for the rest of the night.”

Kara nodded her head. The tears were coming back. What’s the point of being an alien superhero if she couldn’t get something so simple right and if she was constantly making the woman she loved upset?

“Don’t,” Iris said as if she could read Kara’s thoughts. “Don’t do that. Your powers are good and I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide them around me. That was part of the point. I’m not disappointed with you at all.”

“Okay,” Kara said. “Your cake’s going to be done soon, I’ll just clean up.” Iris gave her a worried look before letting go. It was okay, she was okay, they were okay. Kara repeated this mantra in her head as she washed the dishes. It was okay, she was okay, they were okay.

* * *

Ever since she’d stepped into a leader position in Team Flash, Iris had had to learn how to balance that aspect of her life with the reporter aspect. Before she knew about STAR Labs she had almost always been the first on the scene to pick up information for her blog. Eventually she became a top reporter, resulting in more time and energy needing to be spent on her scoops.

When Barry’s big secret was out, it was at least easier to gather more specific details about any metahumans around. 

But leading a team that you’re supposed to be on the ground reporting on? Tricky.

One night Iris had been out grocery shopping, focusing more on a piece that was taking shape in her head than on the crowds around her. Suddenly, the ground beneath her rumbled; screams jolted her back into the present and she ran outside with the rest of the shoppers. Iris looked up to see an alien, a giant scaly alien at least three stories high that was breaking the road with a stomp of its foot. What it was looking for was beyond Iris at this point but her instincts yelled at her to  _ move _ .

She ran to help a group of teenagers get out of the way of the debris that kept falling, letting her hero instincts take over her journalistic instincts. Within seconds the roof of the grocery store completely collapsed inward and Iris knew that she’d have to get out of here. But before she could hit the emergency button on her phone there were twin streaks of lightning passing her.

Iris put just enough distance between herself and the ensuing battle so she could take some quick pics and jot down some notes. Tomorrow -- assuming they captured the villain tonight and god knows they needed a win like that every now and then -- she could pick up more specifics for the rest of the team but now she was in her element. Everyone else had given up on trying to convince her to avoid putting herself in harm’s way for these stories. She knew the situation was at least slightly under control and she’d made a problem that if things went haywire to another degree.

Less than a minute after Barry and Wally had arrived Iris heard a whoosh over her head and smiled. Kara. Watching her girlfriend kick ass was always a pleasure but this was the first time Iris had been on the scene for a fight Supergirl was involved in. She and the Flashes very clearly made a good team, with Kara flying to punch it and weaving to avoid its punches and the Flashes on the ground helping any bystanders get out of the way. When the block was clear Iris watched flashes of lightning, heard yelling and punching, smelt the sizzle of burning flesh. Which was gross, super gross, Iris always forgot how gross it could be to watch from the ground. But it was okay because in minutes the creature had fallen and ARGUS had moved into the scene.

Iris stepped out from where she’d been hiding out, nodding at Waller and Barry who were speaking before calling out to the woman above her.

“Supergirl!” she yelled, smiling once Kara turned to look at her.

“Huh,” Kara said, “haven’t you learned how to avoid danger for a story?”

“Absolutely not. I guess maybe it’s in my genes.”

Kara laughed, an echoing laugh due to the way she’d modified her voice. Iris took a deep breath. “So, I’ve been wondering for a while.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been fortunate enough to snag interviews with a variety of superheroes in our area and beyond but I’ve never been able to get a hold of you. Would you be willing to give me an exclusive?” Kara’s mouth dropped open. She glanced around to see if anyone else was paying attention. If they were paying attention, Iris had decided, they wouldn’t think anything more of the situation unfolding. “Well? We can meet at a neutral spot, wherever you choose.”

“In that case… meet me at the top of Beaver Hill at midnight. I’m willing to answer some questions.”

Iris grinned when Kara winked at her. In seconds Kara had flown up and away, likely back to STAR Labs. Iris had to head that way as well, While the midnight interview was definitely a cover and not going to happen, Iris was still thrilled at the fact that Kara trusted her enough to write a piece on her.

A successful night, even without her errands finished.

* * *

“Whoa,” Iris said, taking a wobbly step towards the bathroom. 

Kara laughed and floated over to help steady her girlfriend. “Careful, I don’t need you collapsing and missing your presentation tomorrow.”

“My brain is mush, there’s no room for journalism anymore.” 

Continuing to float into the bathroom, Kara rapidly brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash. As Iris began to brush, Kara moved to the bedroom to open a window and throw the towel on the bed into the hamper. She smiled as she went to the dresser and grabbed a change of sleep clothes for her girlfriend, including her black silk scarf. Considering how often Iris slept over, it was a wonder that they’d waited so long to have the type of sex they’d had tonight. Around Iris, Kara didn’t have to hide the fact that she was an alien, something that she was eternally grateful for. That didn’t mean she didn’t have her own set of insecurities over how different her body looked in comparison to a human. But Iris, sweet and beautiful Iris, had shown no hesitation to figure things out how their different anatomies worked separately and together.

Kara smiled as she climbed into her bed. It didn’t take much longer for Iris to make her way to bed as well.

“Thanks, babe,” she said when Kara offered her the scarf. She still looked flushed despite washing her face and Kara gave her a huge grin. “What?”

“You’re so beautiful,” Kara replied.

Iris paused in tying her hair up. “I’ve gotten in your bed already, no need to sweet talk me.”

Kara rolled her eyes at the joke. “I’m serious. You’re so beautiful.” She lifted herself up onto one elbow and reached out to twirl a loose strand of hair resting on Iris’s forehead around her finger. By the way Iris’s eyes opened a little wider and her breathing changed, Kara knew she’d started blushing. She continued. “That was beyond what I imagined it could be and I feel like the luckiest being on this planet.”

Iris reached out to hold Kara’s face in her hands and kissed her firmly. Kara’s hand fell to rest on her thigh. Iris was soft, yet sturdy, and it took a very short amount of time before Iris leaned over until she was laying on top of Kara. “Iris,” she breathed once Iris began kissing down her jaw.

“Don’t ‘Iris’ me,” Iris whispered, “you’re the one who started it.” She sounded almost petulant and Kara couldn’t help but laugh on an exhale. Reversing her movements, Iris kissed her way back up to Kara’s lips. Eventually, she broke the kiss and rolled off Kara to rest on her side. 

Kara was the one blushing now.

“You know,” Kara stuttered, “you know, with that conference we’re going to have a lot of free time for networking.”

Iris hummed. “Networking, you say?”

“I mean, technically. But I have other ideas if you’re interested.”

It was Iris’s turn to laugh, her eyes crinkling up. Kara would never stop being delighted at being on the receiving end of that smile. “I’m totally down to workshop things with you tomorrow.”

* * *

“Clark Kent.” was the first thing Iris said when she walked into Barry’s apartment the day after she had the pleasure of meeting Kara’s family. “Clark fucking Kent.”

“Well good afternoon to you too!” Barry responded as he closed the door. “I’m doing pretty great myself and definitely didn’t want a hug.”

“I hug you every time I see you,” she responded with an eye roll.

“Still. So. The big secret is out.”

Iris dropped firmly on a couch; Barry sat next to her. “I feel so stupid.”

“What? Why?”

“It was so obvious,” she groaned, leaning her head back and covering her face with her hands. “She doesn’t talk about her family very much but I knew that she was close to James and that he was dating Clark Kent. He gets his career kick started because he’s close to Superman? He’s close to Kara? He’s dating Superman.”

Barry hummed, getting up from the couch to grab them bottles of fizzy pomegranate juice from the fridge. Iris knew that part of her was being irrational in freaking out so much, but Superman was one of the first heroes on the scene. She’d grown up being aware of him and while he hadn’t been the inspiration for her going into journalism focused on superheroes, she could still remember her and Wally running around in Superman pajamas. 

As teenagers. 

Kara’s cousin was one of the most powerful beings alive… and until this moment the full magnitude of her relationship with Kara hadn’t hit her.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, grabbing the cold bottle from Barry. “Holy shit, she’s a Kryptonian.”

“And? You knew this before you started dating her.”

Iris turned to stare at Barry wide eyed. “You don’t understand, I didn’t realize what that meant. She’s virtually unstoppable.”

“Okay, I still don’t get it.” He was sitting very casually next to her, one arm resting on the back of the couch. “She’s an alien from Krypton. She and her cousin strive to protect the Earth from evil. None of this is news.”

“She could accidentally kill me, Barry.” Was it a ridiculous thought? Yes. Was she certain Kara wouldn’t deliberately harm her? Yes. Had Kara ever even made Iris feel fearful or distrustful? Absolutely not. But dating one of the most powerful beings known on their planet as a human without powers? The thought of what could go wrong suddenly hit her hard.

“Wait, okay,” Barry sat up fully, staring at her with concern. “You’re afraid of Kara killing you?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, not really, it’s just she  _ could _ without trying to.”

Barry paused for a second. The next thing she knew his hand - only his hand - was vibrating. She looked at him warily. “Cisco’s died twice because of a speedster like me. And his powers are the one thing that can destroy me. We’re both aware of this and we’re making our relationship work.” His hand stopped vibrating and he placed it on her thigh. “Iris, most of your friends have the power to accidentally kill you.”

He had a point. A good point. A point that for a while kept her up for hours because she was so haunted. But in time she’d worked through it, so why did this feel different?

“Everyone knows her weakness. So what if someone uses me to weaken her? What if having me around puts her in danger? She’s one of the most powerful people in the world, but what if this ends up being a mistake?” The panic rose and she felt herself starting to cry. Damn it. Barry opened his arms out to her and she scooted over so she could rest her head on his chest as she cried. “This is such a stupid thing to be afraid of.” Barry gave no response and instead pet her head. Iris started crying harder.

Kara wasn’t the first person Iris had fallen so hard for. Eddie, sweet Eddie, had captured her heart and thrilled her with a vision of the future they could have together. But he was dead. She had a dead fiancé. No matter how much time passed, there was still the tiniest piece of Iris that blamed herself for his death. It was Eobard’s fault, obviously, but he died to save her. Guilt mixed with personal doubts mixed with fear. She had to calm down, she was being embarrassing, crying on her best friend as if it was the end of the world.

Iris sat up and quickly wiped her tears away, trying the best to calm her breathing. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Barry replied.

“I don’t know where that even came from,” she said with a laugh. A lie. Luckily Barry seemed to realize that this was not a time to try to push her.

“I’ll get us some lunch ready, okay?” Iris nodded her head. As Barry stood up, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Relationships are about trust and honesty.”

Sighing, Iris looked back up to him. He was giving her that classic Sad Barry Allen Look and she tried to smile to reassure him. “Thank you. I’ll bring it up with her so we can talk.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

* * *

“Kara, this is ridiculous,” Iris called from the living room.

“That’s why you love me, isn’t it?” Kara opened her fridge, grabbing both heavy cream and half-and-half milk. The liquids joined a variety of sweets on the cleared kitchen table. Kara glanced to make sure her girlfriend hadn’t gotten impatient and looked at the surprise on the table. Iris, to her credit, still had her hands covering her eyes and was turned away from the table. Kara went back into the kitchen once more to grab two matching sundae glasses. Or, at least, two sundae glasses that appeared to match.   
“Okay, you can turn around.” Iris turned and Kara’s heart jumped as she took in the surprise followed by delight on Iris’s face.

“Oh! We’re making ice cream. I love it.”

“Nope,  _ I’m _ making ice cream. Sit, sit.”

Iris pulled a chair to sit, resting her elbows on the table so she could prop her head up with her hands. “I’m excited for this, I love when you treat me to surprises.

“What, now it’s a fun surprise and not ridiculous?” Kara teased.

“Making me face away from the table  _ and _ cover my eyes was a bit of overkill. But continue.”

In a large metal bowl, Kara mixed together both forms of milk, sugar and vanilla extract. When it was all combined, she held the bowl in a way that it rested on both of her hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, partially to calm her nerves but partially to get ready for the magic to occur.

Eyes glowing, Kara exhaled, quickly spinning the bowl and blowing cold air over the mixture. The metal of the bowl cooled the liquid and as it spun it solidified into the desired ice cream.

“Holy shit,” Iris whispered when Kara was done. “Kara, that was amazing, holy shit!”

Kara laughed with delight, her face heating up at the praise and her soul nourished by how excited and amazed and proud her girlfriend looked at what she’d done. Her hands were shaking slightly from the nerves and rush of adrenaline, but she made sure to carefully shock one of the glasses with heat from her hands before adding the ice cream and passing it over to Iris. Filling her own glass, she sat and watched with anticipation as Iris took the first bite.

“This is so good.” Iris took a larger spoonful. “This is  _ so _ good, babe.”

“Thank you. I’d actually realized something a week ago.”

“Hmm? What was that?”

Kara reached out to grab Iris’s free hand and said with absolute sincerity. “I’m absolutely terrible at baking.” Iris involuntarily snorted as she held Kara’s hand tighter. “No but seriously, I’m going to stick with practising my skills on things that aren’t dependent on getting things to exactly 105 degrees before they catch on fire. You can be the baker.”

Iris smiled, putting her spoon in her almost empty glass and holding Kara’s hand in both of hers. “Be in one of my videos.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Be in one of my videos. You’re right, you’re a shit baker. But there are so many dessert options that don’t require an oven. I thought it’d be fun to have a mini series where we make no bake versions of treats together.”

“Are you asking me, or are you asking Supergirl?”

Iris rolled her eyes. “You, silly. I don’t think I’m ready for people to know that Ann is a personal friend of Supergirl. I’ve already gotten enough attention from people trying to figure out who I am as is.”

Kara was shocked. Of all of the things that she’d expected in her relationship, being invited into this additional part of her girlfriend’s life wasn’t one of them. And knowing that Iris specifically chose something to accommodate Kara’s skills made the invitation even more special.

“I thought I was going to be the person with surprises for our first year anniversary,” Kara joked. Iris smiled as they bent their foreheads together. “Yes, of course I’m saying yes.”

“Good.” Iris had a sparkle in her eyes as she leaned forward to give her girlfriend a soft kiss. “Of course,” she added as she went back to her ice cream, “if Supergirl wants to teach an audience how to make killer ice cream, I’d be down for it…” Her voice trailed off.

“Hmm? Something wrong, darling?”

“No, I’m just wondering.” Iris tilted the glass so Kara could see inside of it. “There’s a key etching on my glass.”

“Huh, there is,” Kara said, trying to keep in her delight. 

Iris frowned and looked back into the glass so Kara took the opportunity to pull a silver key from under the table and lift it so Iris could see the light shine off of it.

“Wait, oh my god --”

“Move in with me, Iris.” Before she could give the winding speech about how happy they had been together, how much they’d each grown in the last twelve months, how Kara felt like the world was finally right when she held Iris in her arms - Iris squealed and jumped from the table.

“Yes, yes, a million times yes!”

Kara stood to meet her and give her a tight hug. She felt them floating inches off the ground and Iris wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I love you, you know that?” Kara asked.

Barely a second passed before Iris was pressing her lips back against Kara’s. “Of course I know. And I love you back.”


End file.
